Irrigation flow controller



July 5, 1955 o. E. ANDRus IRRIGATION FLOW CONTROLLER Original Filed July 21, 1947 VII/M929);

f IWI/llt@ TTURNEX 2,712,325 IRRIGATION FLOW CONTROLLER Orrin E. Andrus, Milwaukee, Wis.

Continuation of abandoned application Serial No. 762,285, July 21, 1947. This application September 13, 1954, Serial No. 455,496

2 Claims. (Cl. 138-40) This invention relates to an irrigation ilow controller particularly useful in the watering of shrubs and trees in arid and semi-arid regions.

The present application tion Serial No.

is a continuation of applicafiled July 2l, 1947, and now Another object is to provide an irrigating device and system that will facilitate gradual application of water to the soil over long periods of time to obtain more thorough and eflcient moistening of relatively deep and large root growths.

valve for the system.

Another object is to provide a fool-proof, simple, lowcost hose coupling insert that will deliver a xed lowrate stream ilow.

matter therein without removing the device from the water supply line.

l2,712,325 Patented July 5, 1955 that will tend to clean itself of foreign particles by means of uctuations inthe supply line pres` sure.

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic illustration of an irrigation system employing the present invention; Y`

Fig. 2 is an enlarged View of the faucet and hose of Fig. l with the flow control coupling attached therebetween and the end of the hose sectioned and the faucet open;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged axial section of a flow control hose coupling; v

Fig. 4 is an inlet view of the coupling of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is an outlet view of the coupling of Fig. 3;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged axial section. of `a flow ycontrol in arid and seml-arid regions usually start with an underground water pipe 1 having a regular shutoll faucet or valve 2 at each outlet to which an ordinary garden hose 3 is attached.

- plied at one spot tends to be distributed through the soil by capillarity rather than by gravity. Such a rate controller may be allowed to apply a trickle at a xed location for 24 hours or longer without waste of water or fertility.

The of the hose 3 so that the major part of the hose does not have to carry water at high pressure. This enables the employment of less costly or less perfect hose for irrigating purposes.

The ow controller 4 may vary in construction both with respect to its mode of attachment and with respect to the orifice control.

ln principle, the controller employs a circular orifice 5 with a floating central pin 6 extending therethrough.

The orifice 5 is preferably disposed centrally of the body of the controller coupling and may be of different lengths extending longitudinally of the coupling.

The bore of orifice 5 is cylindrical and the pin 6 is cylindrical to rprovide for uniform water pressures on all sides` of the pin tending to center the same in the bore at alltimes, thereby reducing friction in the longitudinal movement of the pin and tending to effect lubrication of the latter by the water surrounding the same. This feature also prevents noise by preventing any tendency of the pin to strike the body.

The annular orifice should have dimensions that will pass less than ten gallons of water per hour when the c.

device is employedwith normal domestic water systems which usually vary from about 5 to about 100 pounds per square inch in pressure.

Where a single orifice without a pin is employed `for this purpose the hole or bore has to be so small as to tend to clog from line sediment always present in water systems. According to the present invention it has been found that by providing a bore of a practical length for a coupling body, such as 5%; inch, and providing an annular orifice by employing a floating pin within the bore, it is possible to obtain a desired flow up to substantially ten gallons of water per hour and at the same time provide for cleaning of the orifice.

In the construction of the device illustrated with a 3/4 inch long orifice bore, a bore diameter of approximately .125 inch and a pin diameter of approximatel .122 inch has been found to be most practica This gives an annular orifice about .0015 inch thick between the adjacent Walls of the bore and pin, and about 2%4 inch in circumference. The total cross-sectional area of the orifice is about .00059 square inch which is the area of about a .027 inch diameter hole. Such a hole would provide too great allow, but the same cross-sectional area in an annular orifice as described will restrict the flow to a practical limit.

A Washer in the form of a split ring 7 is secured on the inlet end of the pin by setting the same in a groove 9 near the end of the pin or by other suitable means. Similarly, a split ring S is secured on the discharge end of the pin in the same manner.

The split rings 7 and 8 constitute flanges on the pin and are spaced apart a greater distance than the length of ,orifice 5.

The flange 7 should be spaced from the inlet end of the orifice 5 at all times.

For this purpose the liarige 7 is held away from the inlet end of orifice 5 by a coil spring 10 encircling the pin 6 and disposed between flange 7 and the body of coupling 4.

Spring 10 is preferably a light spring capable of providing a substantial range of movement `for pin 6 under varying Water pressures to give a cleaning effect for dislodging any sediment that might be caught in the orifice. It should lit loosely around the pin 6` so that it does not obstruct the flow of water to the inlet end of orifice 5.

The outlet end of the pin 6 extends from the end of body 4 when there is water pressure at the inlet end tending to compress spring 10.

To clean sediment awa` it is only necessary to .disconnect hose 3 from the coupling and manually press on the outlet end of pin o to dislodge the sediment and allow the same to be forced through the orifice by the flow of water therethrough. in case this procedure does not clean the orifice the faucet 2 should be closed andthe coupling removed and cleaned.

A substantially .constant .flow of water under varying conditions of water pressure may be obtained by the construction shown in Fig. 8 wherein the effective length of the orifice varies with the water pressure.

The pin 6 of Fig. 8 is constructed with a substantial reduction in diameter at the discharge end providing a shoulder 11 about midway etween the inlet and outlet, thereby substantially eliminating the resistance to flow after the Water passes the shoulder 1l.

Fl'he higher the water pressure the farther pin 6 moves the shoulder ll toward the discharge end, thereby increasing the effective length of the orifice and the resistance to flow. Ilhe lower the water pressure the farther spring l0 will move the pin. 6 and its shoulder 11 toward the inlet end, thereby decreasing the effective length of the orifice and the resistance to flow.

By properly constructing the orifice dimensions and providing a spring of proper strength and characteristics it is possible to obtain a liow which is substantially independent of water pressures within the range of pressures usually encountered in domestic water supply systems.

The pin 6, in most constructions of the controller should be only a few thousandths of an inch smaller than the orifice. For instance, where it is desired to pass only about one and one-half gallons of water an hour to a shrub or tree, and the water pressure is about fifty pounds per square inch, an orifice of the dimensions specifically stated above will be found satisfactory. The orifice actually has a radial clearance between its wall arid the pin of only one and one-half thousandths of an inch.

A clearance of less than one thousandth of an inch will generally be unsatisfactory.

The actual flow rate obtained may be fixed as desired by employing a pin having a diameter properly correlated to the diameter of the orifice or by providing different length orifices. A. smaller pin or shorter orifice will g 1e a greater flow rate and a larger pin or longer orifice will give a smaller ow rate. lt is preferable to base the flow rate desired for any given shrub upon a 2,4-,

hour period of irrigation, or even a longer period. Usually ten gallons perl hour will be the maximum required.

From a practical standpoint Vit is generally necessary to have an orifice length of at least 1/2 inch iri order to provide a workable clearance between pin 6 and the bore 'in body 4. it is possible to provide an orifice of as much as one and a half inches long, particularly when employing the body of Fig. 6. ln such case the clearanceV for the pin may be greater for the saine water flow.

For practical purposes there is a proportion of the annular orifice length in inches to cross-section in square inches of between l00 as a minimum and 5,000 as a maximum, to obtain a delivery of from 10 gallons to 1 gallon of water per hour at normal domestic water system pressures of from 5 pounds per square inch to 100 pounds per square inch. At one extreme, with a proportion of about 100 the flow will be about 10 gallons per hour at 5 pounds pressure per square inch', and at the other extreme, with a proportion of about 5,000 thc ow will be about l gallon per hour at 100 pounds pressure per square inch.

The controller l can be used wherever there is a coupling for the garden hose. Preferably, the vcontroller 4 is threaded at both endsfor threaded connections to the faucet and to the hose, or to two hose sections. In Figs. l to 5, and 8 the controller is shown as provided with a female thread at the inlet end and male thread at the discharge end for inserting the controller between hose coupling members. charge end of the coupling may have a long corrugated end l2 for securing a hose directly thereto, as shown in Fig. 6.

The construction illustrated in Fig. 7 shows a controller with a smaller body having an annular flange i3 to lit inside the usual female hose coupling member l to be secured as an insert between the the female coupling member and the end of the male coupling member.

By employing an annular orifice with a floating pin that is balanced therein there is no vibration to produce undesirable noises in the piping system.

Various modes of carrying out the invention are conand adapted shoulder of orifice extending axially therethrough, said wall having an axial thickness substantially greater than the diameter of said orifice, a floating pin disposed in said orifice extending axially to control the flow of water therethrough,

and means operable in response to diiferential water prescontroller in place.

2. A soil wetting device for arid and semi-arid regions employing a water supply conduit connected to a source bore and having au annular orifice clearance therein of an References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

